From Barbie Jeep racing to demolition derby Lawrencetown's Redneck Rodeo is back

Katrina Barrett holds up the Redneck Rodeo poster she made for the third annual event that takes place July 6-8 at the Annapolis Valley Exhibition Grounds in Lawrencetown. From Barbie Jeep racing to the demolition derby finale, the family oriented event is action packed. - Lawrence Powell

Third annual event set for July 6-8 at Valley Ex grounds

LAWRENCETOWN, NS - When the gates open on the third annual Redneck Rodeo in Lawrencetown July 6, expect the best three-day show yet involving just about anything with wheels and an engine.

Wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers, and WD-40 will be the order of the day at the Annapolis Valley Exhibition grounds as a bunch of backyard mechanics tune up trucks, cars, tractors, ATVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles, and even excavators and fire trucks in events including pulls, races, burnouts, and of course the ever-popular demolition derby.

Exhibition manager Gidget Oxner can’t wait to see some of the new events unfold – like the Redneck Olympics and the Barbie Jeep Racing, both on opening night before the lawn tractor and ATV pulls.

“That’s going to be quite an entertaining activity as we pull people out of the stands to participate in the Redneck Olympics,” she said. “Barbie Jeep Racing – you need to Google that – it’s hysterical.”

While opening night is going to be a hoot, those in attendance won’t have any problem getting from event to event. But as the weekend progresses, exhibition board chair Dave Logie said people are going to have to hustle to take in all the activities because there’s so much happening.

You’ll need some food and drink and there will be tons of it. The dining hall will be open, and of course along with other vendors there will be the Lawrencetown firefighters’ famous fish and chips plus Hal’s pizza from Pizza Factory.

Action-Packed

Despite the fact there is no big draw this year like Bigfoot or Robosaurus, Logie described the weekend as action-packed.

“This year we decided we’d take a bit different approach and concentrate as much as we possibly could on local stuff,” he said.

Logie himself came up with the Redneck Rodeo idea, possibly making him the top ‘redneck' in the Valley. “I was pleasantly surprised the first year we had it in 2016. I knew that we had some ‘rednecks’ around here. I had no idea how many.”

In fact the first year, with Bigfoot as the main draw, more than 20,000 people attended. Robosaurus pulled in big crowds the second year, but even sponsorship didn’t cover the cost.

“But we have some other terrific things that go on here you know – woodsman competition, truck pulling, antique tractor pulling, strongman competition, and it just goes on and on,” Logie said. “There’s something going on all the time. We have three major venues and people have to be pretty sharp to move from one venue to the other to see it all. And we have the advantage of the Riverside Stage. That river bank seats a lot of people. Spicer Construction was very generous to us last year and did a lot of site work down there in front of the stage. So we can put on some pretty interesting events there.”

The riverside venue is a natural amphitheatre and will seat thousands on the hill overlooking the stage and the area in front of it where the Barbie Jeep Racing, the Truck Pulls, the Burnouts, the Tough Truck competition, the Snowmobile Race Demo, and the Demolition Derby will happen.

Other Events

Oxner lists off some of the other events, like the Fire Truck Show & Shine on the midway where not only can people see the trucks but watch demos. There’s an Excavator Competition in the main ring. There’s Motorcycle Judging, Worst Driver, and the Woodsmen Competition.

She’s particularly pleased about something called ‘Get Er Gone.’

“People can come in, rent a table, like a big yard sale geared towards mechanical things, and ‘get ‘er gone,’” Oxner said. “People have a lot of equipment or different items they’d like to part with.”

The Canadian Veterans Motorcycle show is back and this year there will be a Kids Tricycle and Play Area – complete with tricycles. Or you can bring your own.

The weekend is family oriented and should prove popular with little kids to their grandparents, said Oxner. “That was our goal, to really broaden the audience. We expect it to be every bit as good as other years and maybe in some areas a little better.”

She also had high praise for the numerous volunteers and sponsors who make the event possible.

“There are a tremendous number of volunteers that are part of this event,” she said. “Thank-you doesn’t say enough.”

The coast to get in is just $25 for an adult weekend pass and $10 for kids 6 to 10 years old. Day passes are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 6 to 12 years old. Five years old and under get in free.

Weather?

“The long range looks good. We’ve been keeping an eye on it,” said Oxner.